Waiting
by helenhl
Summary: Annabeth is waiting for Percy to return, only to find out that he can't, because he is fighting a horrible monster. She goes to help him, and they both get caught in one of the worst messes in the history of the Greek gods.
1. Chapter 1

Annabeth sat on the beach watching the tides flow in and out. _He should be here by now._

* * *

For the past few weeks, Percy had been away, on vacation to Montauk beach with his mom. He said he would be away for three days, max. He had even invited her, but she had declined, as she wanted to oversee the building if the new cabins. She had Iris-messaged him, but she got no answer. Annabeth was getting very impatient. Something was probably wrong. She pulled a golden drachma out of her pocket, throwing it into the rainbows made by the sea spray. "O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me Sally Jackson." Mrs. Jackson's worried face appeared in front of her.

"Annabeth! How are you? You must be very worried. I tried to contact you, but I had run out of drachmas, if you can believe that!"

Annabeth laughed, her nervousness seeping away. "How's Percy?"

"Ah, yes. I meant to tell you. A great sea monster has come, and it can also go on land. And only a child of Poseidon can defeat it, not even Poseidon himself."


	2. Chapter 2

Annabeth's shoulders fell. "Where is he? How did this happen? When? Why?" More questions started coming to her mouth, but Mrs. Jackson stopped her.

"A few weeks ago, Percy and I were in our cabin. We were eating some hot dogs, and a great rumbling shook the cabin. I wanted to go, but Percy pushed me back and ran outside with Riptide. There was a giant monster, but it was running away, so he made to chase it. I had no idea what it was, so I dove into the sea. Poseidon, of course, brought me to his palace. He told me I couldn't stay, because even worse monsters were coming, but he gave me this piece of paper." Sally held it out, and Annabeth could make out this:

Μια μεγάλη στιγμή έχει φτάσει. Oceanus είναι ανάδευση, στέλνοντας χειρότερα τέρατα του. Πρέπει να τους πολεμήσουμε. Το ένα Percy αντιμετώπισε ήταν παρά ένα μικρό, αλλά ένα από τα δυσκολότερα για να νικήσουμε. Δεν μπορεί να πάει τόσο στη ξηρά όσο και ωκεανό, αλλά μόνο ένα παιδί μου μπορεί να νικήσει. Ούτε καν μου. Να είστε καλά, Σάλι Τζάκσον, και να μείνουν έξω από τον τρόπο της ζημιάς. Μπορείτε επίσης, Ανναμπεθ, για Ξέρω ότι θα διαβάσει αυτό.

And for the non-Greek readers, here is translation:

A great time has come. Oceanus is stirring, sending his worst monsters. We must fight them. The one Percy encountered was but a minor one, but one of the hardest to defeat. It can go on both land and ocean, but only a child of mine can defeat it. Not even me. Be well, Sally Jackson, and stay out of harm's way. You too, Annabeth, for I know you will read this.

Annabeth nodded grimly. "Where do you think he is? I have to go help him!"

Sally nodded. "I have no idea where he has gone, but I'm sure he'd appreciate your help." The connection was slowly dissolving, and left Annabeth staring at a patch of sea.

Suddenly, the waves roared, and a massive man holding a trident stepped out of the water. He looked at Annabeth, then shrunk into a man wearing shorts and a t-shirt, carrying a fishing pole.

"Annabeth! How are you?" He inquired in a warm tone. "I hate to be so direct, but if you want to help Percy, do so. I have other matters to attend to. He is in Louisiana right now, in New Orleans to be exact. And before you run for your things, I'll bring them to you." There was a pop, and suddenly Annabeth's things were beside her. "I will tell Chiron, so don't worry about that."

Then, there was another pop, and Annabeth materialized in a small alley, next to a figure laying down. She immediately dropped to her knees.

"Percy? Are you okay?"

"Annabeth!" The figure sat up.


	3. Chapter 3

Percy had traveled for days, following the monster. It had seemed to be going nowhere, yet somewhere. Sometimes it seemed as though it were running away from him, and other times it would tuen around and attack him.

It was large, humongous, even. It was about the size of Cabin 1, with scaly blue skin and coral-like growths here and there. Worst of all, it had three giant heads, always swinging back and forth, with eyes the size of a dinner plate. It could really spit, too! The saliva it spit out, Percy learned, was poisonous. Now Percy had a hand that was burning so badly he could barely move it.

After the spit hit him, he knew he needed to rest, so he crawled to a nearby alleyway and lay to rest.

A few hours later, he woke up. He stared in wonder at the gold nuggets around him, watching how the sun glinted off of them. It reminded him of the glow of Annabeth's hair. Oh, how he wanted to see Annabeth again! He lay still, thinking, when suddenly a voice shook him out of his reverie.

"Percy? Are you okay?"

* * *

"Annabeth?" Percy sat up, immediately forgetting the pain in his arm.

"Of course, Seaweed Brain! Who did you think it was? Clarisse?" Percy could tell Annabeth was trying to be very strong, but slowly losing the battle. She burst into tears and hugged Percy, burying her head in his shoulder.

"Shhhh, it's alright. I'm here, and you're here." He reached for a gold nugget to give to her, but she held his arm back.

"Don't touch those." She said, her voice slightly muffled. "I'm pretty sure they're cursed."

Percy immediately snatched his arm away. "Well, what're we waiting for? We've got a monster to catch and no time to lose." He tried to sit up, then immediately sat back down as his arm started hurting again.

Annabeth took his arm and started digging through her bag. "I've got some ambrosia here somewhere!" She triumphantly pulled out a bag with a few squished squares in it, which she fed to him. Percy was already feeling better, and started to get up again.

"Oh, no you don't, you naughty boy!" Annabeth wrapped his arm and bandages and finally let him stand up. "Where is it?"

Percy led her by the arm to the place where he had last seen it. It was still there, roaring and chomping down on statues. The mortals just walked around like nothing was wrong. When Annabeth saw the monster, all of her confidence melted away.


End file.
